A Different Point of View

Most days Marc and I are working in two very different worlds. I am home with two healthy children, a nice home, and plenty to eat. He is at the hospital amid the smells, flies, and very, very sick people. We then come together at tea time, siesta time, and again at dinner to sort through it all as a team. It is hard for me to even comprehend it, and Marc often has a hard time even putting words around much of it. However, I wanted to sit down with him and write a post of what he is seeing and doing here in Galmi. I know these pictures look different than what I have shown you thus far, but I think it is good to see things from a different point of view and this is where Marc's ministry is right now.

Marc is currently working this month (as well as last month) with mostly pediatric patients. On his call nights (which is about 1 in 4 at this point) he will see and admit any patient regardless of their age, but in the outpatient department he is only working with infants and children. I think it has been very sobering for him to see how fragile life is here and how little he can do sometimes to improve their situation medically. At this point it seems about one quarter of the patient's Marc admits to the hospital die. Some even die before they are able to be admitted.

I had Marc take some pictures of the patients he was currently taking care of a few days ago. I am just now getting a chance to sit down and add the pictures to the blog, so unfortunately some of these kids who were just hanging on when he took these pictures did not make it. I hope these pictures encourage you to pray faithfully for Marc and the patients here at the hospital. They both need your prayers!

This baby was in for a bad pneumonia. Marc did not think this little one would survive, but she made it. I think her overall health (I LOVE seeing a chunky baby here!) helped her and she was discharged a few days ago.

This child in the next two pictures was admitted for malnutrition and did not survive. He was 2 years and 2 months old. He was seen at the clinic a year ago and when he came back he was the same weight as he had been last year. It was not clear why he was so malnourished. TB or HIV were high on the list of possibilities.

It is hard for me to fathom what agony a mom must go through watching her child starve literally to death. I pray fervently for God's mercy to be on these people when I see these pictures. Their suffering is so great.

This little one is actually the exact same age as Eli. I think Eli is probably just over 30 lbs. This child weighs 15 lbs. and is still in the hospital hanging on. He is being treated for pneumonia, TB and malnutrition. He is one of Marc's favorite patients and he loves seeing him and his mom everyday at the hospital.

This was a two week old baby that weighed 5 pounds and came in having black stools and persistent vomiting. He made great progress and turned the corner a few days ago. Marc discharged him today and hopes to see him next week for a weight check. Pray that his mom's milk supply would improve since it decreased during his recent illness.

This little girl was admitted with severe gastroenteritis. She was a healthy weight and initially looked like she would do very well. However, she started to decline over the weekend and also did not survive.

I have looked at these pictures many times over the past few days, and I still have tears in my eyes when I look at these children again. Oh how precious these little ones are to God! Pray that Marc would continue to provide the physical and spiritual healing these families need.

On a lighter note, we have been extremely blessed to have some friends from our residency program in Wichita visiting this past week. Dr. Todd (the international fellowship director) and John (a former international medicine fellow) have been spending the week with Dean and Marc in the hospital and then enjoying fellowship with our families over meals in the evenings. 

Their wives packed a few requested items for us and some candy for the other missionary kids here. Eli was delighted when a box of CHEERIOS showed up on the kitchen table this morning. We ran out of the box we brought about a week ago and he has asked for them every morning. He ate two bowls full (and asked for a third!) and was so happy to pose for this picture by his box of Cheerios. A big thank you to these two families for showering us with gifts (and your encouragement!) this week.

Dianna took this picture of us at "Cinnamon Buns" which is a tradition during tea time each week at one of the missionary family's homes. Everyone gathers for cinnamon rolls and coffee/tea/juice. This is also when the "meat man" brings the day's beef slaughter by on the back of his motorcycle for us to buy. Quite fun! Eli looks forward to this day so much. I can't tell which he loves more: eating the cinnamon rolls or seeing all the other kids together to play. :) Have a great Wednesday (we are actually heading to bed here!). :)